TAKE STEPS NOT TO FORGET BABY
What every adult needs to know to minimize the risk of forgetting there is a child in a car seat, locked inside a vehicle:
- Accept that it can happen to you and that you should take precautions.
- While every child should be correctly restrained in the back seat, avoid putting the child behind the driver. Use the passenger side instead.
- Keep something in the child's car seat when it's empty, like a stuffed animal. When you put the child in, move the object to where you will see it, like the front seat.
- Put something in the back seat of your vehicle that requires you to open the backdoor every time you park — cellphone, employee badge, handbag, etc. Make it a routine to open the backdoor of your car every time you park to check that no one has been left behind.
- Ask your baby sitter or child care provider to call you if your child hasn't arrived on time.
- Avoid cellphone calls and texting while driving.
Sources: KidsAndCars.org; University of South Florida professor David Diamond
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